Nuveen’s European office portfolio includes a number of prestigious and cutting edge office buildings, such as cube berlin, a a 17,500 m2 ‘Smart Building’ and Edge Olympic, a 11,117 m2 high-tech redevelopment in the heart of Amsterdam’s CBD.

The firm’s new operating platform will provide innovative and flexible solutions, tailored to each asset and occupier, to help entice workers back to the office. These could include an improved food and beverage offering, fitness and wellbeing initiatives and enhanced concierge and hospitality services, taking inspiration from the hotel sector. It will also help roll-out new technologies and support Nuveen in implementing its ambitious sustainability goals at scale.

BNP Paribas Real Estate will be responsible for establishing and running the central operating platform, having been appointed by Nuveen to act as the ‘face of the landlord’, going beyond traditional property management.

The new offer will aim to future proof assets for the long-term and tackle the headwinds facing landlords. Nuveen is seeking to create a more transparent and collaborative relationship between owner and occupier to respond to global office market trends, such as dedensification of offices in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and increased use of technology, while addressing issues around sustainability.

‘Currently, and in a post-pandemic future, this type of customer-focused approach will be even more relevant, with community, health and wellbeing increasingly at the fore of employer and employee priorities. Nuveen’s operating platform has been designed with this in mind, allowing it to get even closer to tenants and providing services that are no longer just a ‘nice to have’ but are now essential,’ commented Nick Deacon, head of European Offices, Nuveen Real Estate.

‘We firmly believe that offices will continue to be relevant, but they cannot continue operating in the way they have done previously. Occupier expectations have increased significantly over the past five or so years, with technology, sustainability and wellbeing now at the heart of their needs, and these trends have only been accelerated as a consequence of the pandemic. The office sector needs to reinvent itself to stay relevant. This is not a secret, but we feel that there is a need to go beyond what is being provided now – occupiers are looking for what they can’t get at home,’ he added.

The platform will initially cover all office assets within Nuveen’s Cityhold Office Partnership (CHOP), Central London Office strategy and European Cities strategy, but will subsequently be rolled out across its entire European office portfolio, representing €7 bn AUM, throughout 2021 and 2022. The majority of assets are located across the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy.

It will be led by Nicolas Bastid, senior portfolio manager and Andy Booth, senior portfolio manager, out of Nuveen’s Paris and London offices respectively.